


A  Beautiful Lie

by Sherbetlemonsandshuriken



Category: Paramore
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-09
Updated: 2014-07-09
Packaged: 2018-02-08 04:42:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1926987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sherbetlemonsandshuriken/pseuds/Sherbetlemonsandshuriken
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This was published in the Red House Young Writer's Book 2011. It's about a boy and a girl and a game of life and death.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A  Beautiful Lie

The note on my desk grows in my vision until it’s the only thing I see. The words are thick and black, a stark contrast on the pure, white paper. They linger at the front of my brain.  
I’m going away for a while.   
I will be back- don’t try to follow me.  
I drop everything, grab a jacket, and start to run, slamming the door behind me. 

 

It’s cold. Really cold. Maybe I should have brought a jacket.   
Hah. It’s funny that. Here I am, standing atop the railings of a rusty old bridge, shaking and wobbling every time something goes past, and I’m worried about not having a jacket. It’s stupid, I know, but even though I’ve resigned myself to this, I can’t help but wish that maybe, just maybe, someone would think I’m worth it and save me…  
No. That can’t- won’t- shouldn’t- better not happen. I’m not stalling this. I’m waiting. Waiting for the sign. He’ll ring, or text, or message, or something, and then, then I’ll jump. I step forwards and rest my toes over the edge. A lorry drives past, and shakes the bridge so violently that my grip loosens on the steel girder by my ear. But, at the same time, the phone in my pocket vibrates, so I don’t flail, or even try to grab hold again. I smile, whisper a soft goodbye, and face the dark, rippling water, devoid of any fear. Just a cool, calm, welcoming acceptance. 

I start running as I see her fall. The only problem is she falls faster than I run. I can’t get there fast enough, she’s still falling, she’s going to die… With all the strength in my leg muscles I lunge for her, and grab a hold of her tightly. A feral yell rips from between my lips.  
“No!”

 

For a moment, my mind is flooded with euphoria. I am free, even if it is for a single, fleeting moment whilst I’m in free fall. Then, I open my eyes, as a shout shatters my own world, and arms grab hold of me, the few, tiny shards of my broken happiness fall to the dark, rippling, strangely beautiful waters of the all-encompassing river below. 

 

Damn it. When I’m fighting against gravity, and the will of the person I’ve managed to catch, she’s damn heavy. She struggles a little more, and my grip around her slackens, and she starts to slip. Alarm beats a painful drumbeat on the pit of my stomach. There’s a squeak, and two hands wrap around my arms, pinching my skin with the nails.   
“It’s alright,” I say softly, heaving her up, so she’s sat on the railings she half-jumped, half-fell from. She slips from it to the damp, gritty pavement below, pulling her knees to her chest. I wrap my jacket around her shoulders, and pull her into a tight hug as I hear her start to sob.   
“It’s alright.” I say quietly, rubbing her back, and kissing the top of her head. “It’s alright, it’s alright, it’s going to be okay.” I feel her fingers latch onto the material of my shirt, and feel immensely guilty.   
Who am I to say it’s going to be okay, when I have no idea?


End file.
